Fuel economizer and smoke-prevention mechanism



I March 25 1924. 1,487,709

H.'BESSER I FUEL ECONOMIZER AND SMOKE PREVENTION MECHANISM Filed March 15 1923 21 //Vl W7'0/? Herman Besser Patented Mar. '25, 1924.

HERMAN BESSEB, ALPEN'A, MICHIGAN.

FUEL EGONOMIZER- AND SMOKE-PREVENTION MECHANISM.

Application filed March 15, 1923. Serial No. 625,265;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN BESSER, a

resident of the city of .Alpena, county of Alpena, and State of Michigan, and a citizen of the United States of America, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuel Economizers and Smoke-Prevention Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fuel economizers and smoke prevention mechanism, and has especial reference to means for utilizing the maximum number of heatunits in the products of combustion, at the same time extracting the unburned carbon content of such products before directing the resulting waste gases to the chimney flue, thus reducing the annoying black smoke ordinarily emitted therefrom, as well as reducing the amount of fuel necessary to satisfy given heating requirements.

The purpose of my invention is to provide mechanism for conveying the combustion products from a fuel-burning element to the usual chimney fine, at the same time enclosing such conveying mechanism whereby heat radiated from the latter, and ordinarily 'wasted, may be utilized forheating pur poses.

Another ObJBClZ of my invention is to provide a substantially horizontal smoke conveying drum having a series of spaced baffles therein and secured at their upper edges to the inner surface of the drum-but o clearing the said surface at their lower edges,

thus affording means at the upper part of the smoke channel for collecting thereon surplus carbon content of the combustion products, thus clearing the gases emitted from the chimney, though not preventing neces-l sary current of gases therethrough' to provide essential draft for the fuel burning element.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a telescoping drum mechanism having an appreciable space between the drums, the inner drum conveying combustion products theretrough, while the intervening space conveys heat radiated from the inner drum,and ordinarily wasted, there through anddirects it to-points to be heated.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide a smoke-conveying drum having battles for collecting soot or other carbon thereon, andalso having collection trays for receiving the ash product of a combustion of the matter collected on such baffles.

The above-mentioned as well as other objects of my invention I attain by the new construction, combination and arrangement of parts described in this specification, de fined in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my structure shown in relation to a suitable furnace unit; y

Figure 2 is a central, longitudinal, vertical section of my heat economizing drum structure, and

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the drum structure taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.

2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, in which corresponding parts are repreresented by similar reference characters throughout the several views, an outer drum -A is shown suitably supported on vertical standards B, and is connected by suitable pipes with the furnace C, which may be of a standard make, adapted to burn anydesirable fuel, such as coal, gas, oil or wood; and adapted to heat building space in the ordinary manner, as by air, steam or hot water currents. V a, a V

lVithin the drum A is another and smaller drum 10 of substantially equal length, but positioned therein and preferably eccentrically, being nearly tangentially arranged at the lower'sides, leaving an intermediate air space 11 between the drums which is sealed except at the ends as described later. These drums are otherwise perfect cylinders, but have at their lower edges clownwardly extending flanges 12 and 13, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. o The flanges 12 of the inner drum protrude down through the opening between the outwardly-bent edges 13 of the outer drum, the latter being suitably fastened to the former, as by rivets 14.

The ends 15 and 16 of the drum structure have suitableopeningstherethrough and are appropriately secured at their edges to the 4 10 with the furnace chamber, while from this drum a similar smoke flue 20 connects with a wall chimney.

It is to be understood that no smoke is ever permitted to enter the intermediate space 11 which is heated normally by radiation only from the smoke carrying drum 10 which it envelops. An air pipe 21 is, however, provided to pour heated air from the outer air chamber or hood of a furnace if such is used, into the aperture 22 in the end plate 16, as in starting a fire at first, but normally it is closed by a suitable damper 23, other means being utilized to conserve the heat in the space 11. In any case, pipes 2% lead from the outer wall A of the large drum and are directedto the space or chambers to be heated. If desired, they may be used to heat certain rooms of abuilding as by being directed to the usual registers; it is however my purpose to heat intramural spaces of building walls and to accomplish this by forcing heated gases therethrough. My structure is well adapted for the latter purpose in which case, the pipes 24 will be directed to suitable openin'gs in the walls of the building; and where the wall space is divided as is contemplated, into a plurality of channels, one of these pipes may be led into as many of these channels as may be desired.

It is not desired however to limit the present application to the details for wall heating; and further details are not disclosed, since that feature involves another invention of mine, and is not claimed in this application. In any case however, the

drum end 16 is provided with openings 25 therein leading to the space 11, there being provided pivoted closures 26 to cover or partly cover said openings as may be desired.

Suspended from the roof of the inner drum 10 is aseries of spaced bafiies or discs 27 secured rather loosely to the inner surface of the drum 10 by means of certain spaced cars 28 which may be riveted to the drum Wall. These baiiies may be provided in larger or smaller numbers, usually spaced a foot or less apart, the exact distance being not considered of relative importance, and may clear the floor of the drum to provide an unobstructed passage 29 through the whole length of the structure from the furnace pipe to the chimney flue. It is to be noted though that this channel is at the lowest pointin the drum, and that the hot gases from" the fire pot will rise to the highest points attainable, which in this in stance will be the spaces between the baffl'es. Only the draft produced by relative weights of gases in the furnace and chimney will force a current through this drum, the action obviously giving rise to whirling eddies of gases between these bafile plates finally being caught in the main current in the channel 29 and thence passing into the wall chimney.

In this travel of the smoke through the drum 10, the superabundant carbon from the smoke clings to the said baffles 27 as a soot, leaving a cleaner net result of the products of combustion to leave the drum at 20. This process results not only in heating the outer space 11 by radiation from the flue 10, thus saving heat units from the current received from the furnace, that would be otherwise wasted, but also serves as a smoke prevention means to prevent the issuance of black smoke from the chimney of the building.

The flanges 12 with the bottom closure,

therefor form a trouglrlike structure which serves as a receiving meansinto which any products from above may fall and be emptied when convenient. To this end, certain sections of the trough are provided with hinged lids or trays 30 pivoted at 31 to the said flanges 12, there being provided suit able latches 82 to secure them closed ncrv Between these pivoted sections, of

mally. which there may be any desired numberusually a plurality, at least, are fixed sections 33 integral with one or both of the flanges 12. The latter fixed sections may be readily cleaned from theopen sections, and the latter emptied of their contents into a suitable receptacle.

The furnace has fresh air fed into it at 34- from a suitable source, the latter arrangement forming no part of this invention and therefore not described in greaterdetail.

Operation :The use of this device requires no radical change in the arrangement of the furnace or smoke chimney; in fact, the usual smoke pipe leading from the former to the latter may often be discarded and my drum structure substituted therefor, the short pipe section 19 being connected with the smoke opening in the drum head 16, and the other end15 connected with the chimney by the section 20. The pipe section 21 is intended to be led from the air chamber in the furnace hood to the entrance to the space 11, between the drums, and being used or not, as may be desired. Normally, currents entering at the open. apertures 25 from the air surrounding the drums, and passing through said space and thence out through the pipes 24: to the space to be heated will be found suflicient to adequately utilize the heat radiating from the inner drum 10; but when it may be advantageous for any reason tomake further use of the mechanism described to direct warm air out through the pipes 24: and thence to a particular space with which they may be connected, such as the intramural space in the building walls, and ingreater volume than the radiation from such inner drum may afford at a given time, then the damper 23 may be opened to permit hot air to rush directly from the furnace hood through the pipe 21, and through space 11 and out the pipes 24, at the same time carrying with it whatever heated air has already accumu-L lated in said space by radiation. In any case, however used, my new mechanism provides for two separate functions; one, that of making use of every possible heat unit in the smoke leaving the furnace, thus resulting in economy of fuel, and a second that of relieving the smoke of the solid carbons before the purified and filtered gases are delivered into the chimney flue, thus aiding greatly in smoke prevention.

As the soot made up of various carbons is deposited on the inner surface of the drum 10 as well as on the bafiles themselves, it is necessary to clean such surfaces at suitable intervals. This is done by firing the soot from the furnace end of the drum, usually by temporarily increasing the draft in the furnace thus causing flames to reach into the drum 10 and burn out substantially all the soot clinging to the b-aflies or other surface within it, at the same time raising greatly the temperature of the space 11 which is a further saving in fuel. The ultimate result of this special combustion is an ash whichis referred to above as falling into the trough formed by the flanges 12. The soot collected in said drum 10 may be burned daily if desired or at convenient intervals of greater length, but the ashes resulting from such burning need not be emptied from the said trough oftener than once or twice a year, usually, as it will be evident that the volume of these deposits will be quite small. The unlatching of the catch 32 permits the swinging of the trays 3O downward on their pivots 31 for cleaning and at the same time affording opportunity for cleaning the intervening space 33.

It is to be particularly noted that the drums may be built to fit the conditions existent where they are to be used; that their length may be varied within wide limits depending upon the space between the furnace and wall chimney, upon the size of the furnace needed for a given building, and somewhat upon the character of fuel used;

that their peripheral size varies with the size of smoke pipe leading from the fur nace, and that the size of baflies depends upon the cross section of the drums. I do not therefore confine myself to the particular relative size of parts here shown nor to the exact relative arrangement of parts here described. The number of baflies found to be most advantageous in a given structure has been rather under estimated in the disclosure here made-in the interest of clearness of outline and more certain understanding of detail. In actual use the number will be multiplied over that illustrated in the drawings of this case. It is mypurpose to use suflicient of said baflles to conserve the heat in'smoke gases and to receive all solids therefrom in the passage through the drum, the baffles being placed sulficiently close together to accomplish this function before feature, when the two tubes are used, being that one of them shall enclose the other, so that combustion products may be passed through the inner tube, and air to be heated passedthrough the intervening space. And

this condition will be found to be present.

whatever the particular cross section of the tubular bodies may be.

Further, while I have shown a pipe leading from the air chamber of the furnace C to the space 11, in some cases this need not be used, the apertures 25 being relied upon to admit sufficient air into this end of the structure. Also, the pipes 24 may in some cases be more desired if leading fromthe end 15 rather than from the outer wall of A, it only being essential that they lead from space 11.

It will further be understood that many other changes may suggest themselves in given situations without in any way avoiding the generalidea of my invention, and while I have described my invention as taking a particular form, it will be understood that I do not limit myself to the pie cise construction set forth, but consider myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure.

by Letters Patent is 7 1. The combination of a pair of drums, one positioned eccentrically within the other and having common end closures, pipes communicating with the interior of the inner drum through said closures, means in one of said end closures for permitting entrance of air into the space between the drums, and pipe means leading from said space near the opposite end adapted to convey heated air therefrom to a distantpoint.

2. The combination of a composite tubular device, comprising a smaller tube internally tangent within another, a hot air furnace, pipe connections from the fire pot of the furnace to the interior of the inner tube, pipe connections betweenthe space between the tube and the air char ber of the'iiunace 31rd with "a space to be heated, and an lash collectionidevice securedexternally to said tubes'and communicating with the interior tube at the point of tangency.

:T he combination of a smoke drum for conveying gases from a fuel burner to a chimney, a heating drum inelosing the first said drum with a space therebetween, the inner drum formed ofa quadrilateral sheet curved until its edges-nearly meet and which edges. are bentoutwardlyinparallelism and project through the peripheral wall of the outer drum, thus 'aitording a means of commun-ication between the interior of the inner drum and space outsidethc heating drum, common end closures for said drums and means for passing current through the space between the drums.

4. The combination of a pair of drums, one positioned eccentrically within the other and having common end closures, spaced baiiie plates within and attached by a portion of their edges to the smaller drum, other edge portions being spaced from the surface of the drum, pipes entering one of the ends of the smaller drum and communicating with its interior, means for can rying heated air from an adjacent turnama to the intermediate space between the drums at one end, and pipe means leadingfrom said space near the opposite end. adapted to convey heated air from said space to a point to be heated.

A heat radiating mechanism, comprising an elongated, hollow structure including therein an enclosing space sealed from communication with the space within it and havin closed ends, one of said ends h ving apertures therein and movable covers for closing or opening such apertures at will, pipe means connecting with said apertured end for permitting communication between said space and the air chamber of a heater, pipe means connecting with the opposite end of the enclosure .tor com-'eying air current to a distant point to be heated, and means for directing smoke from a heater into one end of the inner space in such structure and out the opposite end thereof to a suitable chimney line.

6. In combination, elongated, telescopical ly-arranged. spaced tubes with common end closures therefor, a series of spacedbailies within the inner tube engaging by a portion of their edges the curved inner surface of said tube. but the remainder of their peripheral edg s clearing the said imier surface, thereby forming an open channel from end to end, means connected with said end closures for passing combustion products through said inner tube, and means for passing an air current longitudinallyot the space between said tubes.

7. The combination of a smoke tube, an

tially horizontal-drums of equal length and unequal diameter, the smaller drum being enclosed by-and arranged substantially tangent internally to the larger, and the two having common end closures, their common tangency being at their lower surface and each having a. longitudinal slot, longitudinal flanges fromtheinner drum on either side of saidslot projecting downwardly through the slot of the larger drum and altording a horizontal trough, means for closing said trough and thereby affording collecting means forreceiying any ash or other particles falling thereinto, pipes entering the ends of the smaller drum and communicating withits interior, one of said end closures having apertures therethrough leading to the spacebetwcen the drums, some of said apertures communicating with the air outsidethe drums. and another with the heat chamber of a heating element, means for closing :or opening any or all of said apertures, and means .adjacentthe opposite end of the drums for affording communication between said inter-mediate space and aspacc to'be heated.

9. In a fuel ecouomizing and smoke prei'entionniechanism, a cylindrical drum having closures at its ends, pipes connected with such closures, and'baii le plat-es spaced tromeach other and having means for attachment at portions of their edges with the inner surface of the drum, other of theinedge portions being spaced from the drum surface and inalinciuent to form a clear unobstructed channel the length or" the drum.

10. In a fuel economizing and smoke preention mechanisuna cylindrical drum having closures "at its ends, pipes connected .with :such closures. means within said drum for partially obstructing the passage of combustion products therethrough,but said means being-spaced tromthe curyed lower surface of the drum to form a clearunob- .structed channel therethrough, and means connected with the periphery of the drum adgacent said channel for collecting any ash or other particles falling thereinto.

11. A fuel economizing and smoke prevention mechanism, including therein an elongated, hollow smoke conveyor having closures at its ends, and adapted to be mounted approximately horizontally for conveying combustion products from a fuel burner to a chimney flue, pipes connected with such closures and means on the lower side of said conveyor for collecting any ash or other particles falling thereinto, including spaced, pivoted trays adapted to swing downwardly on their fulcrums for emptying them.

12. In a fuel economizing and smoke prevention mechanism. an elongated, hollow smoke conveyor having closures at its ends, and adapted to be mounted substantially horizontally for conveying combustion prod ucts from a fuel burner to a chimney fine, and baflle plates spaced from each other and having meansfor attachment at portions of their edges with the inner surface of said conveyor, other of said edges being spaced in alinement from the conveyor surface to form a clear unobstructed channel therethrough.

13. In a fuel economizing and smoke prevention mechanism, a cylindrical drum having closures at its ends, pipes connected with such closures, spaced, baflle plates having means for attachment at portions of their edges with the inner surface of the drum, other portion of their edges being spaced from the drum surface to form a clear unobstructed channel therethrough, and means connected with the periphery of the drum adjacent said channel for collecting any ash or other particles falling thereinto.

14. In a fuel economizing and smoke prevention mechanism, a cylindrical drum adapted to convey combustion products substantially horizontally from a fuel burner to a chimney flue, closures at its ends and pipes connected therewith, spaced, baffle plates having means for attachment at portions of their edges with the inner surface of the drum, other portion of the baffle edges being spaced from the drum surface to form a clear, unobstructed channel the length of the drum, and means connected with the periphery of the drum adjacent saidchannel for collecting any ash or other particles falling thereinto, said collecting means including swinging tray parts for emptying the same.

15. A fuel economizer and smoke prevention mechanism including therein an elongated smokeconveyor having closures at its ends and adapted to be mounted approximately horizontally for conveying combustion products from a fuel burner to a chimney flue, pipes connected with such closures, and means on the lower side of said conveyor for receiving any ash or other particles falling thereinto, including trays adapted for movement relative to the conveyor for emptying them.

16. A tubular smoke conveyor formed from a quadrilateral sheet curved until its edges nearly meet and which edges are bent outwardly in parallelism, in combination with refuse receiving means including trays mounted, upon said parallel edges and movable relative therewith for emptying them.

17. A smoke conveyor comprising a longitudinally slotted tubular device whose longitudinal edges are bent outwardly in parallelism, in combination with receiving means detachably connected with said parallel edges for closing the opening therebetween.

18. A smoke conveyor comprising a longitudinally slotted cylinder whose longitudinal edges are bent outwardly in parallelism, in combination with movable means for opening and closing said slot.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

HERMAN BESSER.

Witnesses: V

E. W. LEAVI'i'r, PAUL NIERGARTH. 

